Welcome to a new season at Cumbria’s Living Heritage and a big welcome to three new members, Keswick Museum, Rydal Mount and Windermere Jetty. We are also excited about the reopening of Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum and their ‘Reimagined Wordsworth’ project next month as Wordsworth Grasmere.

You join us in a very special year as we celebrate three significant anniversaries - William Wordsworth’s 250th anniversary, the 125th anniversary of the National Trust and the centenary of the death of its founder, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. We’ll be celebrating their lives and achievements and inviting you to enjoy the landscapes they loved and protected.

We have a new brochure for you to download here or pick up when you are visiting, and a full programme of events throughout the year – we’ll be keeping you up to date in our regular newsletter, on Twitter, Facebook and we are now on Instagram. 

Here are a few highlights for the weeks ahead. Come and enjoy the awakening of another season in a World Heritage Site recognised for its cultural landscape.

Askham Hall is hosting a special weekend of classic concerts, 28 February - 1 March, bringing together internationally acclaimed musicians Noam Greenberg and the wonderful Castalian String Quartet - a in rich programme of chamber music by Robert Schumann.

Following each concert there will be a special meal at Askham Hall, where Michelin starred chef Richard Swale will be running the show, using the best of Askham Hall's produce.

Concert tickets and dinner bookings 01931 712350.

Brockhole House is one of our lesser known Arts & Crafts treasures of Cumbria – and perfect for a new exhibition Landscape and Language Lost and Found by Friends of the Lake District. Using words and photographs it spans the life of the charity; reflecting echoes of ‘lost’ Lake District scenes and words from the past, with the ‘new’; looking to the future through the eyes and creative ideas of children’s language. Open until 1 March.

Keswick Museum and the Armitt Museum both have new exhibitions about Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. At Keseum Museum Rawnsley opened on the 1 February and is on display until 1 August and Armitt Museum’s  Rawnsley: Defender of the Lakes opens in March. Both exhibitions tell the stories of this remarkable man and his unrelenting campaign to protect the natural beauty and culture of his beloved Lakeland. Plan a Rawnsley day and take in both, with the amazing Lakeland landscape in between!

Now that the Dalemain Marmalade competition has closed we’re looking forward to the Marmalade Festival on 14 & 15 March, where the winners will be revealed - culminating in the announcement of the 2020 Double Gold Best in Show Award! The Festival will be an array of all things orange - talks, lectures, cookery demonstrations, juggling workshops, a human fruit machine, a marmalade cat contest and much more! Come and taste over 1000 marmalades - get your tickets here.

We have a fantastic opportunity on 21 March to visit Muncaster Castle in the evening to enjoy Owls by Moonlight and a simple hot supper in the Old Laundry to fortify you for setting off into the night. Watching owls in their natural habitats enjoying the winter months and learning from Muncaster’s passionate and knowledgeable team is an unforgettable experience. 

These are just a few ideas for inspirational winter days out, there are lots more here. 

We would love to see your photo’s tag us #cumbriaslivingheritage.